Using fire to manage wildlife habitat at Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Thursday, April 18, 2013

NEWINGTON — Fire is an important management tool on many national wildlife refuges, including Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Newington.

As weather conditions allow this year, Refuge staff will be busy conducting a number of small, controlled burns to maintain about 84 acres of open grassland — habitat that is important for a diversity of wildlife species including the state — listed upland sandpiper, American woodcock, bobolink, and wild turkey.

A controlled burn — also called “prescribed fire” — can only be conducted within a set of strict guidelines that are spelled out in a burn plan. Wind speed and direction are among the environmental factors that must be considered before the decision is made to “go or no go.” Prescribed fires are managed by crews of specially trained personnel, supported by all the equipment necessary to keep the process safe and on target.

When refuge personnel use fire as a tool to manage wildlife habitat, they are mimicking a natural force that, historically, played an important role in many ecosystems. Fire reduces combustible fuel loads (e.g., accumulating grass, leaves, and wood), returns nutrients to the soil, and helps to maintain certain habitat conditions required for native wildlife. Applied as a management tool, fire can also be a very effective way of dealing with invasive plants — “public enemy number one” on many national wildlife refuges.

As is the case on many national wildlife refuges, fire is used in combination with other tools to achieve certain management goals at Great Bay NWR. Open grassland habitat is maintained by a combination of annual mowing and periodic application of prescribed fire.

Great Bay NWR is administered by Parker River NWR, headquartered in Newburyport, Mass.